


Point of Contact

by Goddess47



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: FBI Agent Stiles Stilinski, M/M, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-07 06:55:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19079812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goddess47/pseuds/Goddess47
Summary: Stiles had one job: deliver this file to Peter Hale. Peter had other ideas.





	Point of Contact

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to Hisaribi for her art; that made this story just flow! Go and tell her how wonderful it is! [Art is on Tumblr](https://whoishisaribi.tumblr.com/post/185517548743/heey-so-here-goes-my-steter-reverse-entry-for)
> 
> Huge thanks to Green for her cheerleading and beta work! I, of course, tinkered after she was done, so all mistakes are mine!

"Why didn't you just take this file from Agent McCall?" Stiles, frustrated, waved the folder he had in his hand. "And what are you, a Luddite? You don't have an email so we could just send this to you? I'm losing most of a day driving halfway across the state into God's country to _hand deliver_ a freaking paper file!"

Okay, Stiles maybe got lost, in spite of the GPS, and had a flat tire, and had missed lunch. This was supposed to be his weekend off and his boss, Rafe McCall, had him doing delivery duty. A delivery that he should have done himself; Peter Hale was McCall's contact, not Stiles'.

Peter Hale didn't immediately reply from his seat in a plush leather recliner, but looked him up and down. Slowly. Stiles tried not to blush. 

"Why would I do that, if there is a sweetheart like you available?" Hale leered.

Stiles groaned. "Ugh. Gross." He held the file out. "Anyway, this is the case we need your help with."

"Of course," Hale replied, taking the file but not opening it. "Agent Stilinski, don't you know wearing a hoodie under the suit isn't the official look for the FBI? Although the red may be appropriate at this point." 

Stiles shrugged. Leave it to a werewolf to make a 'red riding hood' reference. 

"That has nothing to do with this case." He was just grateful he had the hoodie with him when he had the flat tire and didn't get grease on his white shirt. He had already learned -- the hard way -- it was easier to buy a new shirt than get it clean enough to pass 'inspection' in the office. If nothing else, McCall would write him up for not wearing 'acceptable' clothes to work.

Hale leaned forward. "It has everything to do with this case."

Stiles took a step back. "No it doesn't," he said firmly. "So, are you taking the case, or what?"

Hale gave a small, sharp smile. "I will, but only if you are the one who will deal with the FBI for me."

"What!" Stiles yelped. Manfully, of course. "Listen, they already don't like me and I'm on, like, double secret probation. I don't need more trouble." He _knew _Hale would be trouble.__

__Hale shrugged and lounged back in his chair. "If your precious FBI wants my help, then I get to pick who I deal with. And I'm picking you."_ _

__"What about Agent McCall?" Stiles asked._ _

__"He was amusing. For a while," Hale admitted. "Now? I want you."_ _

__"What do I tell him?" Stiles pleaded. He did not need this._ _

__"Anything you want, sweetie, anything you want!" Hale grinned._ _

__Stiles looked at his phone. One bar. Thank goodness for that. He dialed McCall._ _

__"Sir?" Stiles said. "Hale wants to deal with me on this case. No one else."_ _

__"Asshole," McCall said with a sigh. "Tell him it's okay, and I'll take over later. Get what you can from him and get back here!"_ _

__Hale wagged a finger at Stiles and shook his head._ _

__"Umm, sir? Werewolf. He can hear you!" Stiles stifled a grin._ _

__"Still an asshole. Do what he wants then," McCall replied. "We need his help."_ _

__"Got it!" Stiles hung up. _Thanks a lot!_ Stiles wanted to whine._ _

__"Okay, you're stuck with me," Stiles said. "And no take-backs."_ _

__"Oh, I doubt I'll change my mind," Hale grinned._ _

__Stiles waved a hand at the file. "Case? Look at it?"_ _

__Hale shook his head again. "The only thing you'd be here for are the so-called Capital Killings," Hale said. "There is a ritualistic element to the killings that have been left out of the press for most of the murders. You're hoping I can tell you who, or what, might be behind it."_ _

__Stiles stared for a moment. "Okay, I'll give you that one. The first two murders weren't connected to the pattern until later, and the details on those got out. But, yes, that's what we were hoping you could help with."_ _

__"How many murders do you have at this point?" Hale asked. He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers together._ _

__"Eleven," Stiles admitted. "The cause of death is different in a number of the cases, although there's enough repetition to be interesting. However, the ritualistic element is the same for each of them."_ _

__"And since one of the first deaths was the youngest son of Senator Deucalion, that has been putting even more pressure on the FBI to solve these murders," Hale added. "Deucalion is on the Senate Finance committee and has been threatening the FBI funding if you don't solve this immediately."_ _

__"Got it in one!" Stiles agreed cheerfully._ _

__"Do you have full access to all the autopsies?" Hale asked, standing up. He handed the unopened file back to Stiles._ _

__"I can get it?" Stiles hedged. He stuffed the file in his backpack._ _

__"Do that!" Hale commended. "I'll be right back." He walked up the stairs to the second floor. He turned back to Stiles from the top. "Make coffee. Use the large press."_ _

__"Make coffee!" Stiles muttered, knowing Hale could hear him. "Yes, sir. Whatever you want, sir."_ _

__He went into the kitchen and found a chef's delight. An industrial range was embedded in the center island and an oversized refrigerator was along one wall. Stiles guessed that the countertops were marble, miles of it, and tons of cabinets. Damn, this kitchen was bigger than his entire apartment!_ _

__Seeing a set of three French presses on the countertop, Stiles figured everything else he needed would be in the same location. Opening cabinets and drawers revealed a small variety of beans, a burr grinder and measuring cups. Stiles filled a kettle with water and set it on a burner to heat. He measured and ground coffee -- the Backdraft variety sounded interesting -- and poured the roughly cut grounds into the press._ _

__He called McCall again. "Hale wants access to the full autopsy reports. All of them," Stiles told him. "How do you want to do that?"_ _

__"Damn. Let me think for a minute," McCall said, distracted. "I have to put you on hold."_ _

__Stiles poked around in the refrigerator, finding cream for the coffee. He finally found sugar in another cabinet._ _

__"Okay," McCall came back. "I have Matias setting up your account to have access, you can sign him in to let him see what he wants."_ _

__"Thanks," Stiles said sarcastically. "I'll have to change my password a billion times to keep him out when we're done." He would have thought there would be a more secure way to give Hale access to the autopsies. Through his account was probably the most expedient._ _

__"We'll worry about that later," McCall said dismissively. "Anything else?"_ _

__"Not that I know of," Stiles replied._ _

__"Keep me in the loop!" McCall ordered._ _

__Stiles was waiting for the water to come to a full boil when Hale returned._ _

__"I'm impressed," Hale said, not quite startling Stiles._ _

__Stiles shrugged. "Damn, you're quiet! Worked my way through college as a barista," he admitted. "French press coffee is pretty simple, if you have the right stuff. Which you seem to have."_ _

__"Even so," Hale said, "you're doing fine."_ _

__"What do we do next?" Stiles asked._ _

__"We have coffee, and get to know one another," Hale purred._ _

__Stiles held up a hand. "I'm only a delivery guy," he protested. "They don't tell me anything important."_ _

__"Still, you know more than you think," Hale said. "Autopsy reports?"_ _

__"Through my account," Stiles replied. "And don't abuse that!"_ _

__"I would never!" Hale said, putting his hand on his heart._ _

__"Right!" Stiles shot back._ _

__The water boiled, and Stiles took the kettle off the burner to let it sit for a minute. Hale wandered over to another cabinet and got out travel mugs and a thermos._ _

__"What's that for?" Stiles asked._ _

__"So we can take the coffee with us," Hale replied._ _

__"Take with _us_?" Stiles asked cautiously._ _

__"You don't think I'm going to work on this puzzle from here?" Hale asked._ _

__"I don't have permission..." Stiles started to protest._ _

__"I'm not asking permission," Hale said patiently. "You want my help, you take it how I give it. Which means I need to be in the Capitol area to work on this."_ _

__"On your head," Stiles replied. He poured the hot water into the press and let it sit. "Where's the bathroom? It's a long trip back."_ _

__"Don't worry, we'll be there sooner than you think," Hale replied. "Bathroom through there. On the left." He pointed to a door at the back of the kitchen._ _

__Stiles found a roomy half-bath in the corridor outside the kitchen. A quick look around showed a large family room with a fireplace, which had a door to a deck that seemed to extend across the entire back of the house. Coming back into the kitchen, Stiles identified a door from the kitchen that would lead to the same deck._ _

__"Nice place you have here," Stiles commented._ _

__"It's a nice change from working in the city," Hale allowed._ _

__"You could have met me there?" Stiles groaned._ _

__"This was more fun!" Hale grinned._ _

__Ignoring the innuendo, Stiles looked at the press. "Is it done yet?"_ _

__Hale sniffed, then said, "One more minute, then it will be fine."_ _

__Stiles waited, trying to not jitter in place. When the minute was up, he poured coffee into the travel mugs and the rest into the thermos. Hale pushed one of the mugs toward Stiles._ _

__"This is for you," he said._ _

__Stiles poured a generous dollop of cream and two spoons of sugar into the mug before putting the cap on it. He watched as Hale put a drizzle of cream and about ten grains of sugar into his mug._ _

__"We'll drink the rest black, if we have to," Hale said._ _

__Stiles put the cream back into the refrigerator and the sugar in the cabinet._ _

__"Now what?" Stiles asked._ _

__"Follow me," Hale directed._ _

__Hale picked up a bag he must have brought from upstairs and led the way through the house and out into a huge garage that held... whoa, seven very expensive looking automobiles._ _

__"We'll take this one," Hale pointed to a BMW X3. He put his bag into the rear seat._ _

__"Umm... I have a perfectly good car out front," Stiles offered. "and, well, my overnight bag is in there." He held up his backpack. "This is tech and files, not my gear."_ _

__Hale looked at Stiles patiently._ _

__"Okay, this is fine," Stiles added hastily._ _

__"Get in," Hale said pointedly. "We'll get your stuff."_ _

__Hale drove around to the front of the house and stopped next to Stiles' rental. "Get your bag," he ordered._ _

__Stiles nearly tripped over his own feet climbing out of the car and hastened to the Malibu that he had gotten as a rental at the airport. It was all his non-existent travel allowance would cover. He grabbed his overnight bag and placed it gently in the rear of the BMW next to his backpack before getting back into the front seat._ _

__Hale drove off and Stiles looked around. "This isn't the way I came in," he said._ _

__"We're not going back the way you came in," Hale replied with a grin. "I know a... shortcut."_ _

__"I knew it!" Stiles exclaimed. "I knew there was a better way to get here!"_ _

__Hale glanced at him. "How did you know that?"_ _

__Stiles shrugged. "I don't know, but even though the sun didn't change direction, I felt like I was driving in circles for the last hour or so."_ _

__"You were, actually," Hale admitted. "The wards are set up to confuse anyone who isn't already tied into them. That gives me time to see who might be approaching."_ _

__"Hey! Not fair," Stiles protested._ _

__Hale grinned. "McCall never noticed. So you're one up on him."_ _

__Stiles snorted. "Okay, I won't tell if you won't."_ _

__"Fair enough," Hale agreed too easily. "How did you end up with this assignment?"_ _

__Stiles rolled his eyes. "McCall hates me," he admitted. "I'm the newest agent in the office, and all he does is assign me research and, sorry, babysitting jobs. And everyone else in the office takes their lead from him, so, it's lose-lose all around."_ _

__"Well, I for one am glad he sent you instead of coming himself," Hale admitted._ _

__Stiles was stunned at how _honest_ that sounded._ _

__Hale turned the car into a shaded drive and came out to an open field._ _

__"Where are we?" Stiles asked._ _

__"You have me confused with someone else if you think I'm going to drive all the way to DC," Hale said patiently. "This is my personal airfield."_ _

__"What!" Stiles said. He knew Hale had money, but this was beyond any expectations._ _

__"Grab your bags, and the coffee thermos," Hale directed. "It would be a shame to leave the coffee behind."_ _

__Stiles scrambled out of the car, hugging his travel mug to his chest, and darting to the back of the car to get his bags. He slung the backpack over his shoulder and had to hustle to catch up with Hale, who already had disappeared into the barn, well, hanger._ _

__A Learjet sat neatly inside the hanger, with two people Stiles could see working in the hanger. A man in jeans and a t-shirt and a woman in a white dress shirt and khaki pants were inspecting the plane._ _

__"Are we ready?" Hale asked the woman._ _

__Stiles guessed that she was the pilot. That probably made the man a mechanic._ _

__"I'll be finished with the pre-flight check in ten minutes," she replied. "We can be in the air in twenty minutes."_ _

__"Good," Hale said. He led Stiles to the plane. "Go ahead and get comfortable. Sit anywhere. I'll be there in a minute."_ _

__Stiles had never been in a private plane before, and looked around in amazement. The plane was plushly decorated in an understated way -- it had six individual leather chairs and a couch that could seat four if they were friendly; he could see two more seats in the cockpit._ _

__Since there weren't any overhead bins for his bags, as there would be on a commercial flight, he put them on a chair at the rear of the plane and sat in one of the middle seats. He buckled in and breathed out._ _

__"Problem flying?" Hale asked, dropping into the seat next to his after setting his own bag next to Stiles'._ _

__"No!" Stiles shook his head. "Just... wow!"_ _

__"It is nice, isn't it?" Hale smiled._ _

__The woman came on board the plane and closed the door behind her. Definitely the pilot, Stiles thought. She came over to Hale._ _

__"You all set?" she asked. "Need anything?"_ _

__"I think we're fine, thank you," Hale said buckling his own seatbelt._ _

__She went to the front of the plane and closed the door between the cockpit and the seating area._ _

__When they reached what Stiles figured was their cruising altitude, Hale leaned over and asked, "I don't suppose I can talk you into joining the Mile High club?" He looked Stiles over again._ _

__Stiles knew he was blushing and shook his head. "You're attractive and all, but, really, not interested."_ _

__"You are interested in men, aren't you?" Hale purred._ _

__"I'll admit to being open to relationships with both men and women," Stiles said. "But the key word is _relationship_. I'm not interested in a one night stand, even with someone as hot as you are."_ _

__Hale leaned back in his chair. "Standards. I have to find the one FBI agent on the entire East coast who has personal standards." He shook his head. "It is such a pity."_ _

__"Ha!" Stiles laughed. "Like you couldn't do better than someone like me."_ _

__Hale leaned toward him, face serious. "Oh, but you see, sweetheart, there isn't someone just like you. I don't know what it is, but you're special. I just have to figure out what you are."_ _

__"What I am?" Stiles exclaimed. "Human. Breakable human being here. Nothing special about me."_ _

__"Oh, sweetie," Hale said softly. "There is something very special about you. Never forget that."_ _

__Stiles swallowed nervously._ _

__"Where did you put the rest of the coffee?" Hale asked._ _

__Stiles pointed to the rear of the plane._ _

__Hale poured himself more and held up the thermos. "Do you want more?" he asked._ _

__Stiles shook his head. "Thanks, but I can't drink too much coffee. I get wired and, well, it's not pretty."_ _

__"Hmmm... we'll have to try that sometime," Hale smiled. "We could have fun with that."_ _

__"I doubt it," Stiles replied._ _

__Hale was right. Flying back to DC was better than driving. And the private jet made it almost magical._ _

__As they landed, Stiles pulled out his phone. "Do you want to come to the office? Or did you have other plans?"_ _

__"Your local office doesn't have what I need," Hale said dismissively. "I've made other arrangements."_ _

__"I need to check in, if nothing else." Stiles waved his phone._ _

__"Go right ahead," Hale replied._ _

__"Where the fuck are you?" McCall answered the phone._ _

__"Umm... DC.... some airport," Stiles answered._ _

__"Washington National, private terminal," Hale put in._ _

__"We're at Washington National, a private terminal," Stiles repeated. "Hale has some contacts he's going to meet up with and I've been talked into going with him. Not that I had much of a choice."_ _

__"You? You're going with him to meet his contacts?" McCall seethed. "We've been trying to find some of his contacts for years! Why is he taking _you_ with him?"_ _

__Stiles shrugged, then realized McCall couldn't see him. "I don't know," Stiles answered honestly. "Maybe I make a good cup of coffee."_ _

__Hale snorted._ _

__"If you get _anything_ , and I mean anything, you call me," McCall snapped. _ _

__"Yes, sir!" Stiles saluted sarcastically. "Anything updates on the case?"_ _

__"Nothing on this end," McCall admitted reluctantly. "Which is why you need to do better to get some help from Hale."_ _

__"Got it!" Stiles replied._ _

__McCall hung up on him._ _

__"Rude!" Stiles said as he put his phone away. "Okay, nothing new on the case, and no new deaths, so that's good news of its own."_ _

__"Whoever is doing this has a pattern," Hale replied. "We just have to figure it out."_ _

__They got out of the plane and Hale led him through the terminal with a familiarity that Stiles realized meant Hale had been here numerous times._ _

__"Do you live here?" Stiles asked, suspicious. Hale didn't react. "You do! You asshole! We could have started earlier if you didn't play games with a meeting in that house in the woods thing you have going on."_ _

__"I was recuperating from a... well, call it a project-gone-wrong when McCall called," Hale said. "And if I knew he'd send you, dear heart, I'd have come down here on my own."_ _

__"Flattery will get you nowhere," Stiles grinned._ _

__As they exited the terminal -- no TSA! Stiles realized -- Hale led them to a waiting Land Rover. The man leaning against the car asked, "Mr. Hale?"_ _

__Hale nodded._ _

__"Car's all set, keys in the ignition, call the office if you need anything." The man walked off._ _

__"Okay, this beats dealing with a rental counter any day," Stiles admitted._ _

__They put their bags in the back seat of the Land Rover and Hale got in to drive._ _

__Stiles loved Washington, DC. While training at the FBI Academy in nearby Quantico, Virginia didn't leave him a lot of time for sightseeing, he did spend what time he could in DC. As a result he was slightly familiar with the area. Hale drove to a residential area that Stiles thought was just inside the DC border. He pulled into a parking space on the street._ _

__Hale turned to face Stiles. "If anyone asks, you're with me," Hale said pointedly. "Don't get too carried away, but, if you need to, go ahead and defend yourself. And don't say anything about being with the FBI."_ _

__"What kind of place is this?" Stiles asked, looking at the row houses that lined both sides of the street._ _

__"The best kind," Hale grinned. "Where we can get information."_ _

__"Okay," Stiles said, determined. He was a real FBI agent, for heaven's sake. He could take care of himself._ _

__Hale led the way down the street and went to the front door of a home in the middle of the row. He rang the doorbell and waited._ _

__The door opened a crack, then was thrown wide. The tall, dark-skinned woman at the door threw herself at Hale and screeched. "Peter! You dog! Come in, come in!" She looked over Hale's shoulder and saw Stiles. She leaned away from Hale. "And who do we have here?" she asked eagerly._ _

__"Stiles Stilinski, ma'am." Stiles figured he'd play it safe. It never hurt to be polite._ _

__"Oh, isn't he a cutie!" she cooed, stepping toward Stiles. Stiles took a step back. "Peter, what a lovely present you've brought."_ _

__"Sorry, darling, he's with me," Hale said firmly. "And you know I don't share!"_ _

__She pouted. "But, Peter, you and me and Stiles? Oh, what fun that would be!"_ _

__"Chloe," Hale sighed. "I'm here for information, besides, we'd eat each other alive if we got together."_ _

__"Oh, but what fun we'd have until that happened," she sighed. "Oh, well, come on in." She looked at Stiles. "Don't wander away, if you know what's good for you."_ _

__"Yes, ma'am!" Stiles nodded warily. What the heck had he gotten into here?_ _

__The glimpse of the first floor of the building was similar to apartments Stiles had been in before. The front door led to a living room and stairs led to the second floor. Chloe led them to the kitchen at the rear of the building and opened a door that led to stairs to the basement. As Stiles went past it, he realized the basement door wasn't a simple wooden door, it was heavy and probably steel. The stairs were sturdy and Chloe tapped at the steel door at the bottom._ _

__"I'm back!" she called._ _

__Stiles looked around and spotted a camera high in the ceiling. There must have been a mic to go with it._ _

__A 'click' and the door opened, and they followed her into a room Stiles that wouldn't be out of place in a bunker under the White House. The 'basement' of this house stretched further than the single home they had entered -- Stiles looked around. It was eight or ten houses worth of basement._ _

__There had to be at least a dozen people scattered through the room. Probably more, since there were darkened areas Stiles couldn't see into. A series of doors lined one wall, where Stiles guessed there were offices. They looked dark, but that didn't mean anything._ _

__"Come on," Chloe led the way to a cluster of screens around a desk._ _

__"Stiles, sweetheart, bring up the autopsy files, please," Hale directed._ _

__"Oh, man, they'll have to build me an entire new account after this," Stiles groused._ _

__"We could just break in," Chloe added cheerfully. "But we're playing nice today. For Peter's sake."_ _

__"Oh, goodie," Stiles muttered. He added his passcode and the two-factor authentication code from his phone. He stepped away from the keyboard. "All yours."_ _

__Chloe sat down at the keyboard and brought up the autopsy files for the eleven victims._ _

__"What are you looking for?" she asked Hale._ _

__"I'm looking for a pattern to go with the ritual aspects of each death," Hale said. "And, if you would, put the locations the bodies were found on a map for me."_ _

__Stiles looked at him. "You already know!"_ _

__Hale wagged a finger at him and tutted. "I _suspect_ , and that does no one any good until we can predict what's going to happen next. As well as to catch whoever is doing this." He pointed to a chair in front of a keyboard. "Put the body dump locations on a map for us, please. And the estimated time of death. I need to read the autopsy files."_ _

__Since Stiles really did want to be useful and not just stand around and watch, he worked through the files to find the locations where the bodies had been found. He plotted each on a map and added the time and date of the death._ _

__Stiles' phone rang. It was McCall._ _

__"You find anything yet?" McCall demanded._ _

__"We're... just about to make contact with Hale's people," Stiles prevaricated. "So, nothing new."_ _

__"Damn. There's been another body," McCall replied._ _

__"Where did they find it?" Stiles asked._ _

__"In Lake Bridge," McCall said._ _

__"No, exactly where did they find it?" Stiles demanded._ _

__McCall rattled off some street names, giving an address that Stiles jotted down._ _

__"Who was it?" Stiles asked._ _

__"Local park ranger," McCall said. "William McVale, 47. Married, two kids, works for the National Parks at the Manassas site."_ _

__"Is there an estimated time of death?" Stiles asked._ _

__"A couple of days ago, is the best information I have at the moment," McCall admitted._ _

__"Put whatever you have into my account, so I can share it with Hale?" Stiles asked._ _

__McCall sighed. "Okay, but you call me the minute he comes up with anything," McCall repeated._ _

__"I will, I will," Stiles promised. Crossing his fingers._ _

__He hung up, to see Hale looking at him. "You lied to McCall," Hale said._ _

__"I... exaggerated," Stiles grinned._ _

__"I knew I liked you," Hale grinned back._ _

__"Peter! Pay attention!" Chloe demanded. "You can flirt later."_ _

__Hale pouted. "You're spoiling all my fun!"_ _

__"Do you want me to help or not?" Chloe said, putting her hands on her hips._ _

__"You know you want to figure this out as much as I do," Hale said._ _

__"Doesn't mean I'm doing this by myself," Chloe retorted._ _

__Ignoring them, Stiles plotted this new death on his map and sat back to look at it. He zoomed in on the map and idly zoomed out. Without thinking too much, he zoomed out again._ _

__"Umm... can someone look at this with me?" Stiles raised his voice a bit._ _

__Hale came and looked over his shoulder. "What do you have, sweetheart?"_ _

__"I zoomed out on the map and if I do this..." Stiles sketched on the map, a ragged spiral that included not only the drop sites but multiple areas that -- supposedly -- had no dead bodies. "It kinda fits."_ _

__Hale snapped his fingers. "Someone who knows more math that we do needs to smooth this spiral and see where it's leading."_ _

__"Got it!" a voice called from the other side of the room. "Give me a minute..."_ _

__The freehand spiral smoothed in front of them._ _

__"It's a Fibonacci Spiral," Chloe said. "And the center is... there!" She pointed to a green space on the map._ _

__"Prince William Forest Park," Hale said, reading the label from the screen._ _

__"There's some serious old growth forest in that park, for all that it looks tame to most folk," Chloe said. "There are places in that park that even I won't go."_ _

__"Ah! But that's my specialty," Hale said with a grin. "And it's our job to figure out what the next steps are."_ _

__"The number of days between the deaths fits the Fibonacci sequence," Stiles said. "The traditional start of a Fibonacci sequence is 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and the last two numbers are added together to make the next number. So after eight would come thirteen. But this is counting down, so if the last death was three days ago, we're down to 2, 1 and 1. Which means three more deaths and two at the same time."_ _

__Chloe poked Hale. Hard._ _

__"A fucking Three-Fold Death ritual? And you didn't tell anyone?" Chloe complained._ _

__Hale shrugged. "Until we brought all this together, I wasn't sure."_ _

__Stiles raised his hand. "Umm. Can we get an explanation, for the human in the room?"_ _

__"I keep telling you, you're special!" Hale sighed. "Any way. A Three-Fold Death ritual is a pattern for gathering power, usually by a Dark Druid also called a Darach. Deaths are in groups of threes, with the groups being virgins, warriors, guardians, scholars and healers. The last deaths will then give the Darach a significant boost in power."_ _

__"What will they do with this power?" Stiles asked._ _

__"It's usually to do something particularly nasty," Hale admitted. "But it's also usually personal and involves a measure of revenge."_ _

__"So we have to find this Darach and stop him or her before they can commit the last deaths. And, based on the 'couple of days ago' for the last death they've found, that means either today or tomorrow for the final triad."_ _

__"Okay," said the voice from before. A young man came up to them. "The first group were the virgins, then the warriors, then the healers and the last set are guardians."_ _

__"The scholars are left for last," Hale said. "Interesting choice."_ _

__"There are no hard and fast rules about the Three-Fold Death ritual," Chloe sighed. "Again, one of the last victims may be part of the reason this is happening in the first place."_ _

__"Tomorrow night is the New moon," Stiles added._ _

__Hale looked at him and beamed. "See? I knew you're intelligent."_ _

__Stiles pointed at him. "Werewolf. You should have thought of it before I did. You're slacking."_ _

__"Oh, my heart! I'm wounded!" Hale put a hand over his heart and shuddered dramatically._ _

__"Making an educated guess, the first of the three deaths will be just before midnight tomorrow, then the last two will be just after midnight," Chloe suggested. "So all three deaths are on the night of the full moon, but on different days, just to fit the pattern."_ _

__"That makes sense!" Hale admitted._ _

__"What now?" Stiles asked._ _

__"We go hunting!" Hale grinned._ _

__"Oh, not before I get out of these clothes into something more comfortable and, even before that, I need some food," Stiles announced._ _

__"I'll help you with those nasty clothes if you'd like," Hale leered._ _

__"Keep your hands to yourself," Stiles said. "And food first. If you really think we have until tomorrow, we can prepare for this properly."_ _

__"Chloe, dearest, can you get us some gear?" Hale asked._ _

__"Tell me what you need and where to send it," she replied._ _

__"Will do!" Hale promised. "Come, sweetheart. I need more coffee."_ _

__"You better find a Starbucks, since I'm not making it for you," Stiles grumbled._ _

__"Get a room!" Chloe called after them, as they left the basement._ _

__Hale laughed._ _

__They got into the Range Rover and Hale pulled out._ _

__"Where are we going?" Stiles asked._ _

__"To get a room, of course," Hale replied._ _

__Stiles groaned._ _

__"Actually, I have an apartment in Alexandria," Hale went on. "We will stay there and I can have some food brought in."_ _

__"I can go..." Stiles started._ _

__"You cannot," Hale said in a firm voice. "You found the pattern and we will see this through."_ _

__"And what do I tell my boss?" Stiles asked._ _

__"Well, if you tell him the truth, then there will be FBI agents all over the park and they will scare the Darach off. There may or may not be a reason for the park as a final location, but if there is not, the Darach could go anywhere to complete the ritual and we're down three scholars."_ _

__"And I'm going to lose my job if I don't call it in," Stiles moaned._ _

__"We can talk about your job later," Hale said. "At this point, you and I should be able to stop whatever will be happening tomorrow night."_ _

__"You sure about that?" Stiles asked doubtfully._ _

__"Positive."_ _

__Stiles sighed. "Okay. I've started to hate this job anyway."_ _

__Hale pulled into a garage under an apartment building and wound through the garage to a space near the elevator that he pulled into._ _

__"Let me guess," Stiles said. "The penthouse."_ _

__"Nothing but the best," Hale agreed with a nod. "Bring your bags. And we'll figure out what else you need and get that taken care of this evening."_ _

__"Food," Stiles said patiently. "You promised me food."_ _

__"I did, didn't I?" Hale grinned. He dialed his phone and spoke in an Asian language that Stiles figured was Chinese or maybe Vietnamese. Hale looked at Stiles, "I hope you like Thai."_ _

__Stiles shrugged. "As long as you're buying, I'll eat almost anything."_ _

__Hale finished his call and said, "Delivery in thirty minutes. That will give us time to clean up. And make coffee."_ _

__"No coffee for me," Stiles protested. "Water or something else will be fine."_ _

__"Whatever you prefer," Hale allowed._ _

__On the elevator, Hale pressed numbers into a keypad. The elevator emptied out to a small space with two doors. A clearly marked 'Exit' -- probably the stairs required for fire safety purposes. The other door had no handle on this side. Hale waved a key card along the wall and the door opened automatically._ _

__"Good trick!" Stiles admitted. "What happens if someone steals the key card?"_ _

__"First of all, the wards won't let just anyone into this space," Hale said. "The stairwell door doesn't open, it's just an illusion for fire code purposes. Without the code on the keypad, the elevator won't come up to this floor."_ _

__"What if there's a fire and you can't use the elevator?" Stiles asked, faintly worried about being trapped at the top of a burning building._ _

__"I'll admit to being paranoid about fire," Hale said. "My family was almost killed in a fire set by hunters. My sister finally realized her teenage son was being targeted by a hunter, she was pretending to be his girlfriend, and the bitch actually set the house on fire with everyone supposedly in it."_ _

__"Whoa," Stiles said. "What happened?"_ _

__"My sister worked with the local sheriff's department to charge the bitch with statutory rape, since she was twenty-nine and my nephew was only sixteen. The fire was started, but my sister had a coven of witches on hand to manage the fire and break the line of wolfsbane that the hunters had laid down. Took all the evidence to the Hunter's Council and, well, they took care of it," Hale said._ _

__" _You_ took care of the Argents!" Stiles exclaimed. "I heard that story from my dad, he was a sheriff in a neighboring town. He knew Talia Hale slightly and didn't think she had gotten all that evidence herself."_ _

__Hale looked at Stiles. "Damn. Stilinski. I should have made that connection myself. Your dad was smart. If he had been the local sheriff, I would have let him take the Argents down for that."_ _

__"He was glad to see the Hunter's Council do their job," Stiles admitted._ _

__"How is your dad?" Hale asked._ _

__"He's retired now," Stiles replied. "Between his military pension and the county pension, he could retire early. Figured he was due some time to himself." Stiles paused. "Want to hear something funny?"_ _

__"Of course," Hale replied._ _

__"He's dating my boss's ex-wife," Stiles grinned. "She's a great person and is good for my dad. So whenever McCall is particularly annoying, I mention that I've heard something from my dad, or that I'm going to be talking to him later, and it derails him completely."_ _

__Hale laughed. "That is perfect!"_ _

__Hale's phone rang. "Send it up, please," Hale said. He looked at Stiles. "Our food is here. There's a doorman at the front to manage visitors, which makes everything easier."_ _

__"Good," Stiles replied. "I'm starved."_ _

__A tap at the door and Hale opened it, to the most lovely aromas Stiles had ever smelled. Hale led the way to the kitchen, where he put the box of food on the table._ _

__"Plates and utensils over there," Hale directed. "Want something to drink?"_ _

__"Water's fine," Stiles said, getting out eating utensils and serving spoons. He looked into the box. "Whoa, you have enough food for an army."_ _

__Hale pointed at Stiles. "Growing young man, and, yes, you can afford to put on some weight." Then at himself. "Werewolf. I burn calories just breathing."_ _

__Stiles dug through the various packages, taking some of everything to get started. Hale piled his own plate high._ _

__"Damn, this is good!" Stiles admitted. "This is better than any Thai food I've had before."_ _

__"Glad you liked it," Hale replied, with a small grin._ _

__There weren't many leftovers by the time they were done._ _

__"Thanks, I needed that," Stiles said._ _

__"And we both can use a nap before we do anything else," Hale said. "We've both been up long hours and we have some work to do before we can confront a Darach."_ _

__"I need to check in, too," Stiles added, waving his phone._ _

__"Tell McCall we have a lead that we're checking out," Hale directed._ _

__"He'll want more than that," Stiles hesitated._ _

__"When he wants more, tell him I said he should have been here himself," Hale replied calmly. "Not that I want him, but that will keep him away long enough for us to draw up a plan."_ _

__"Okay," Stiles replied. He dialed the phone._ _

__"Now what?" McCall answered._ _

__"Hello to you, too. Nice to have a chance to talk to you," Stiles said semi-pleasantly._ _

__A sigh came from the other end._ _

__"What's Hale up to?" McCall asked._ _

__"He's talked to some of his contacts and may have an idea, but he's not willing to share just yet," Stiles replied._ _

__"Yeah, he's got nothing," McCall said absently. "If someone else dies, though, it'll be on his head."_ _

__"I think he's aware of that," Stiles said. "We're calling it a night. Do you need anything before morning?"_ _

__"Not at this point," McCall said._ _

__"Then, good night," Stiles said. And hung up the phone._ _

__Stiles looked at Hale. "He thinks he sent me on a wild goose chase," Stiles said, slowly. "He has no idea that we have a clue. And doesn't care."_ _

__Hale shrugged. "Which is why I'd rather work with you than with him. He never would have found that Fibonacci sequence, much less followed up on it."_ _

__"Huh." Stiles didn't know what to say._ _

__"Okay, come with me and we can make plans for tomorrow," Hale said. He led the way to a room off a small corridor, which Stiles would have assumed was a bedroom. When Hale opened the door, Stiles was amazed._ _

__"I knew it!" Stiles declared. "I knew you were giving McCall a hard time about paper files!"_ _

__Stiles looked around at a room that rivaled Chloe's set-up. There was a large monitor on one wall, a bank of computers and monitors along the adjacent wall and printers and scanners along a third wall. Thank goodness it was an oversized room, otherwise there wouldn't be any space to move around in, Stiles thought._ _

__"I have to have my fun somehow," Hale admitted. "I can pipe anything from here to the monitor in the living room, it makes a great media room for watching movies."_ _

__Stiles rubbed his hands together. "Where do we start?"_ _

__"Let's start with the park and see if your spiral gives us anything resembling a specific location," Hale replied, tapping on the keyboard. Chloe must have sent the image from before to him, so the spiral overlaid on a map appeared on the screen._ _

__Hale zoomed in to the center of the spiral, which was in a densely forested section of the park._ _

__"That's not much help," Stiles said._ _

__"No, but if we can get a general location, hopefully we can find the Darach, or at least anything they've set up for the final stages of the ritual," Hale said._ _

__"What kind of force will we need to use?" Stiles said, thinking of the handgun he had in his pack._ _

__"Deadly force, and most normal weapons won't work against a Darach," Hale replied. "Unless your bullets have mistletoe or at least wolfsbane in them."_ _

__"Drat, I left those in my other jacket," Stiles replied._ _

__"Don't worry, I can provide the weapons and the ammunition for that," Hale waved off Stiles' sarcasm._ _

__"Are just the two of us going after the Darach?" Stiles asked._ _

__"I can get some backup," Hale said, "they will be much better at this than your FBI will be."_ _

__Stiles held up his hands in surrender. "I know that!" he agreed. "They're so worried about this Senator that they'd trample the place before we could find anything."_ _

__"I'm going to suspect that we'll find that the Darach has some connection with Deucalion," Hale murmured as he looked over the map._ _

__"If it's someone from his personal life or his staff, no one is obvious," Stiles said. "I've had the joy of doing background checks on his staff and, even digging relatively deep, they come up clean."_ _

__"Planning a Three-Fold Death ritual is a long term plan," Hale said. "So if it is someone close to Deucalion, they've had time to build a solid identity. It'll take more than a simple background check to find the connection."_ _

__"Can you tell me anything more about the Three-Fold Death ritual?" Stiles asked._ _

__"It's an old ritual and can take a couple of different forms," Hale answered. "The form we're seeing is one of the more powerful forms, since the Darach is actually stealing life force from so many different victims. Which will make for a powerful enemy, since we will be there near the end of the ritual. Sets of three victims, each killed in different ways, allows the Darach to draw each victim's life force into themselves."_ _

__"Is this something only Darachs do?" Stiles asked._ _

__"Generally, yes," Hale nodded. "It's a dark ritual with really no redeeming qualities about it."_ _

__"What are the other forms of the ritual?" Stiles asked._ _

__"Instead of three victims, each killed in different ways," Hale answered, "the most frequently preferred option is to kill one person three different ways."_ _

__"How is that possible?" Stiles asked, frowning._ _

__"It's mostly semantic," Haled replied. "Once the initial killing is done, the body is violated in two other ways to imply three deaths. The mutilated body is then an offering to some very nasty demons who specialize in such things. But dealing with demons is a chancy thing, you're more likely to be killed in the exchange, than get anything out of them."_ _

__"Wait!" Stiles exclaimed. "Demons are real, too?"_ _

__"Why not?" Hale replied._ _

__"Umm... just... Okay, I don't know anything," Stiles answered honestly._ _

__"Sometimes, that is for the best," Hale said. "It lets you see things others might not see."_ _

__"And it'll get me killed!" Stiles said._ _

__"I'll protect you, little one, don't worry!" Hale smirked._ _

__"Oh, goody!" Stiles grinned._ _

__"Excuse me while I call for our backup," Hale said. "I don't want to involve your FBI scruples by doing this in front of you."_ _

__"No problem!" Stiles nodded. "What I don't know, I can't talk about."_ _

__"Exactly," Hale said. "Stay here and see what you can find about the park."_ _

__Hale walked out of the room, and Stiles heard him say, "Christopher. I need a couple of your men to help with a small project tomorrow night..." Then the door closed behind him and Stiles returned his focus to the map of the park._ _

__Stiles quickly guessed that Hale had more than a normal Google search going on. When he searched for information on the park, Stiles ended up with information that he knew wasn't publically available._ _

__One of the most helpful things he found was a topographical map of the park, with the utility infrastructure laid out. It had all the utilities marked, where they existed, as well as the roads and trails that meandered through the park._ _

__Stiles was poking at one area of the map when Hale returned to the room._ _

__"That's all set," he reported. "A team will be in the park tonight, scouting it out, and another two teams will be there when we're ready to go in."_ _

__"I've got an idea," Stiles said._ _

__"Go ahead," Hale encouraged._ _

__Stiles pointed to the map he had on the screen. "For a national park just outside of Washington, DC and one of the most populated areas of the country, there's a good size section of the park that has no services, no trails, and difficult access." He pointed. "Right here."_ _

__"And Chloe did say there were areas of the park even she would not go into," Hale said._ _

__"True," Stiles agreed. "So, as an evil being, I'd be headed to that location where I'd be least likely to run into other people and most likely to run into other nasty things."_ _

__Hale stared at the map for a moment. Then brought out his phone._ _

__"Chloe, darling," Hale murmured. "Did you forget to tell me there's a Nemeton in Prince William Forest Park?" Hale gave a small laugh. "Not me, Stiles figured it out." He listened. "Yes, darling, I know. I'm working on it." More listening. "You'll know if it goes badly, I suspect. Thank you!"_ _

__"What's a Nemeton?" Stiles asked._ _

__"A... tree, usually. But, it's a magical connection to the Earth and an incredible source of power," Haled replied. "They usually sit at a nexus of ley lines."_ _

__"And the Darach is doing the ritual at the tree to get the power they need to do whatever they want," Stiles said._ _

__"Crude, but close enough," Hale nodded._ _

__"Crap."_ _

__"Crap, indeed!" Hale laughed._ _

__"How will we fight that?" Stiles asked._ _

__"If the Darach succeeds, there's not much anyone can do," Hale admitted. "It's not been done in thousands of years. The last known person to have the power of a Nemeton was Merlin."_ _

__Stiles stared._ _

__"Nemetons have their own magic, so they are difficult to find," Hale elaborated. "One needs to know where to look and have the power to over-ride the wards it has naturally. Unfortunately, a Darach almost at the end of a Three- Fold Death ritual will be able to do that."_ _

__"And how are we going to find it?" Stiles asked. "We won't have that kind of magic to work with."_ _

__"Which is where you come in," Hale said. "You have... something. Not magic, I don't think, but something that will help us find the right place."_ _

__"No pressure!" Stiles groaned._ _

__They stood and looked at the map in silence._ _

__"What size shoe do you wear?" Hale asked._ _

__"A nine, medium. Why?" Stiles was confused._ _

__"Good, you'll need hiking boots and I have an already broken in pair that should fit," Hale replied. "I think we need a good night's sleep. Take a shower in the morning and use the toiletries you'll find in the bathroom. They will help block your natural scent. We'll need all the help we can get."_ _

__"O-kay," Stiles replied._ _

__"Let's print out that section of the map and call it a night," Hale decided. "Today has been a long day and tomorrow will be longer."_ _

__"Yay!" Stiles grinned._ _

__Stiles went back to the entry to grab his bags, and followed Hale to the bedroom area._ _

__"How many rooms do you have here?" Stiles asked looking down the hall._ _

__"Kitchen, dining, living rooms, the computer room, and four bedrooms, each with its own bathroom," Hale counted. "Oh, and a guest bathroom in the hall."_ _

__"Must be nice," Stiles said whistfully. "I'm living in a tiny one-bedroom apartment that I can barely afford."_ _

__Hale shrugged. "On the other hand, I have all of this space to myself. It's not always a fair trade."_ _

__It was the first time today that Hale looked even faintly vulnerable._ _

__"When this is over, you can come over to my place and I'll make my mom's lasagne for you," Stiles found himself offering._ _

__"Be careful," Hale warned. "I may take you up on that."_ _

__"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it," Stiles countered seriously._ _

__Hale stopped in the hall. "Thank you." He opened the door. "Make yourself comfortable. There are clothes and whatnot in the closet and the dresser, use what you need."_ _

__"Thanks!" Stiles said. "I'll see you in the morning."_ _

__The bedroom and oversized bathroom together were bigger than Stiles apartment. The closet was full of different styles of men's and women's clothes in a variety of sizes. There were sleep pants in one of the drawers and Stiles took one to use for the night._ _

__In the bathroom, he looked over the toiletries. He decided they were actually good quality, better than what he had with him and definitely better than what he'd find in a motel. He wouldn't have any problem using that in the morning._ _

__Even though it was late, his dad was on the West coast and three hours behind, so it wasn't quite so late and he could still call._ _

__"Stiles! Always good to hear from you!" John said._ _

__"Listen, I'm on a case and I've ended up working with Peter Hale," Stiles said. "What do you know about him?"_ _

__"Well, that's a name I haven't heard in a long time," John replied. "Talia Hale and the rest of her family are still living locally, but Peter got out of here soon after the fire."_ _

__"We talked about that a little," Stiles admitted. "I'm thinking Peter had more to do with taking the Argents down than most people think."_ _

__"I always thought that," John said. "The evidence was too airtight for someone like Talia to have put together. She's a good Alpha, but she doesn't think the way you need to in order to go to the Hunter's Council."_ _

__"Peter all but admitted he did most of that work," Stiles said._ _

__"Working on a big case?" John asked._ _

__"Part of the Capitol Murders," Stiles admitted. "Can't say more, as you know."_ _

__"That is a big case," John said proudly. "Good luck with whatever you're doing."_ _

__"I suspect we're going to need it," Stiles replied. "Thanks."_ _

__They talked a few more minutes about what was going on in their lives before they hung up. Stiles liked to keep in touch with his dad, he had learned a lot from him and had been reluctant to leave him alone when the chance to go to the FBI Academy came up. Luckily, he knew Melissa McCall was around and would also 'check' on his dad. He didn't want to think about anything else they may get up to... it was his dad, after all._ _

__Stiles was already up, doing some Tai Chi in his room when Hale tapped on the door. Stiles had found the Tai Chi allowed him a decent workout when he didn't have access to a gym, and it was something he could do almost anywhere._ _

__"We need to be on the road in about an hour," Hale said._ _

__"Not a problem," Stiles replied. "I'll take a shower and be right out."_ _

__"Need any help with that?" Hale leered._ _

__"I think I can manage," Stiles said, finding himself blushing._ _

__"Too bad," Hale sighed. "Next time."_ _

__"Maybe not then, either," Stiles shot back._ _

__"Coffee's ready when you are," Hale said. "And I have those boots for you. Grab some heavy socks from your room if you don't have any."_ _

__"Got it!" Stiles said._ _

__Stiles came out to the kitchen, following the scent of coffee. Since they would be hiking through a forest, he had put on worn jeans, taking a t-shirt and overshirt from the closet. His red hoodie would suffice as a jacket._ _

__"We can get some food along the way," Hale outlined as he poured a cup for Stiles. "It's about an hour drive -- on a good day, and it's never a good day around here -- and we will have time to get some food closer to the park."_ _

__"There's a great diner in Dumfries, which is just outside the park," Stiles offered. "Good food and lots of options. Reasonable prices when you're on a budget, not that that's important to you."_ _

__"That sounds good," Hale nodded. "Most people are usually glad to help me spend my money."_ _

__"Hey!" Stiles protested. "Not a gold-digger here. I know this is only for this case, and I'll go back to eating ramen when we're done."_ _

__Stiles thought there was a momentary look of disappointment on Hale's face._ _

__"If you're done," Hale said, "we can get on the road."_ _

__"One minute," Stiles said, dashing back to the bathroom for one last piss. He came out and said, "Learned early to piss, eat and sleep -- in that order -- when you can."_ _

__Hale laughed. "We may be reduced to leaves for toilet paper by the end of the night, so that's a reasonable thing to do."_ _

__"Ugh!" Stiles moaned. "There was a weekend survival training course I did and, while I made it through the forty-eight hours successfully, it wasn't pretty."_ _

__"Good to know," Hale replied. "Some of that may come in handy."_ _

__Stiles tugged on the boots and stamped his feet in them to adjust. "These are great," he said. "Where do you get them?"_ _

__"They're actually mine," Hale replied. "I have them custom made, so the fact that they fit you so well is interesting."_ _

__"Huh," Stiles said, looking at the boots on his feet. "Hope we don't ruin them, then, before we're done. But these will be better in the woods than sneakers."_ _

__"Which is why I suggested them," Hale said. "Ready?"_ _

__"Anything we need to do here before we go?" Stiles asked._ _

__"There's a cleaning service," Hale replied. "They'll clean up after us."_ _

__"Oh, la-te-da!" Stiles teased. He was thinking of the towering pile of laundry in his apartment that needed to be done; he had put his last clean clothes on yesterday morning, figuring he'd be back at some point and could run out to the laundromat. He also hoped he had firmly closed the refrigerator door before he left, because it tended to pop open if one wasn't careful. Which would then spoil what little food there was. Oh, well, a problem for when he got home._ _

__If going out without FBI back-up to take on a Darach didn't kill him first._ _

__"You can leave anything you won't need in the forest in the apartment for now. Take these bags," Hale directed. "We'll need some supplies."_ _

__Stiles took two heavy, oversized duffle bags. Hale took two others, and they set the bags in the rear of the SUV. Stiles wanted to look to see what was in the bags, but figured he'd get a chance later._ _

__They got into the Range Rover and Hale drove easily through the morning traffic._ _

__"It'll be worse on I-95," Stiles groaned. "There's construction. There's always construction. It's a real pain."_ _

__"Which is why I wanted to leave plenty of time for the drive," Hale reiterated his earlier statement. "I'd rather be waiting there than stuck in traffic."_ _

__"Fair enough," Stiles agreed._ _

__Stiles resisted fiddling with the radio since Hale already had it on some classical music station. Interestingly enough, Stiles found that he recognized some of the melodies that were played, even if he couldn't put a name to them._ _

__Hale's phone rang at one point and he answered it on the hands-free car system._ _

__"Christopher. What do you have?" Hale asked._ _

__Stiles wondered who 'Christopher' was. If it was important, Hale would tell him._ _

__"The team I sent last night didn't find anything, but if it is a Nemeton, then I'm not surprised at that," Christopher said. "I only sent humans, since I didn't want to trigger any wards that may have been set. So there's nothing obvious, but that doesn't mean it's not there."_ _

__"We're on the road now," Hale said. "I'll meet your other teams at the trailhead about one o'clock. That should give us plenty of daylight to work with."_ _

__"Let me know if you need anything else," Christopher said and hung up._ _

__"Not surprising," Hale commented. "The Darach has been clever enough to not be caught yet, so I'm thinking this may not be easy."_ _

__"I can get us more help, if you think that would do anything," Stiles offered._ _

__"No, we'll get it done," Hale said firmly. "But I need you to be prepared to make some difficult decisions along the way."_ _

__"As an example..." Stiles left that open._ _

__"We may need to kill the hostages ourselves, rather than allow the Darach to kill them and finish the ritual," Hale said gently._ _

__Stiles let that run around in his brain for a bit._ _

__"I've never shot anyone, much less killed anyone," Stiles admitted. "But, well, if it comes down to that, I can do it."_ _

__"You have to be sure," Hale said firmly. "There won't be time to think about it. If I tell you to shoot at someone, you can't hesitate."_ _

__"I won't," Stiles said. "But I hope we can save them."_ _

__"Can't save everyone," Hale said. "Good of the many and all that rot."_ _

__"Oh, my god! You're a Star Trek fan!" Stiles exclaimed._ _

__"Slander!" Hale retorted. Then grinned. "I don't live in a cave, you know."_ _

__"Actually, I don't know! Like anything about you!" Stiles pointed out._ _

__"After -- not if -- we make it through this, we can fix that," Hale offered._ _

__"Oh, don't worry! I'm going to take you up on that offer!" Stiles agreed._ _

__"Back to my point," Hale redirected the conversation. "While I like to be an optimist, this may come down to us or them. I'd like _us_ to make it through this."_ _

__"High on my priority list, too," Stiles agreed. "I'll pay attention."_ _

__"Good!" Hale said._ _

__Fortunately, construction was at a minimum and they made good time. Stiles directed Hale to the diner he had mentioned._ _

__"They have the best curly fries!" Stiles said as they were shown to a booth._ _

__"I'll take that under advisement," Hale replied dryly._ _

__Even though this really was a late breakfast, Stiles ordered a bacon cheeseburger, with his curly fries, and a chocolate milkshake. Hale ordered the steak and eggs breakfast combination, and a side of pancakes, with coffee._ _

__"Want a pancake?" Hale asked. "I just wanted one, but it feels silly to order just the one."_ _

__"Sure," Stiles nodded. "When I finish this. Don't want syrup on my fries."_ _

__They ate with gusto, Stiles dipping some of his fries in his milkshake, to Hale's obvious confusion._ _

__"What?" Stiles laughed. "It's good."_ _

__"I'll take your word for it," Hale replied dryly._ _

__Stiles took a pancake from the stack and put butter and then syrup on it. He finished it off, and looked at the pancake still on the plate._ _

__"Go ahead," Hale nodded at the lone pancake. "I'm not going to eat it."_ _

__Stiles said, "Thanks!" It was as good as the other._ _

__"Anything else?" Hale asked._ _

__Stiles rubbed his stomach. "No, I'm full!"_ _

__Hale flagged down their waitress. "Can you give us four assorted subs with..." he looked at Stiles._ _

__"Oil is good," Stiles said. "Mayo can be skeevy if it gets warm."_ _

__"Oil is fine," Hale said._ _

__"Onions?" the waitress asked._ _

__Hale shook his head. "No, thanks."_ _

__"Just curious," Stiles asked when the waitress left. "Why no onions?"_ _

__Hale shrugged. "Not a fan, Of onions on a sandwich, I like onions fine in other dishes," he admitted. "And it adds to the aroma, which we may need to keep down so it's less obvious we are there."_ _

__"Makes sense," Stiles agreed. "Drinks?"_ _

__"We'll pick that up at the next stop," Hale said._ _

__"That works," Stiles said. "I'm best with just water on stakeouts."_ _

__"Good to know," Hale replied._ _

__Hale paid for the food, and Stiles put the subs in the back of the SUV. Hale drove to a small store in another part of town. He pulled around the back and a man came out as they pulled in._ _

__"Water," Hale said. "Enough for two for our job tonight."_ _

__The man nodded and brought out two cases of water in plastic bottles, then added six canteens on web belts._ _

__"In case my guys need anything," the man said._ _

__"Thank you, Christopher," Hale said. "Will you be there?"_ _

__"Have another situation to deal with," Christopher shook his head. Stiles wondered what was more important than dealing with a serial-killer Darach. "But call if you need more backup."_ _

__"We should be fine," Hale assured him._ _

__Stiles re-arranged the bags in the back to allow for room for the water and found himself under Christopher's scrutiny._ _

__"He's young," Christopher said flatly._ _

__"We were young once, too," Hale said. "And... he's special. I'm thinking not quite human. We'll see how that plays out."_ _

__"Don't get killed out there," Christopher said._ _

__Hale put a hand on his heart. "Oh, you do care!" he cooed._ _

__"Just got you broken in," Christopher grinned. "Too much work to get someone else to do what you do."_ _

__"I'll take special care, then!" Hale promised._ _

__"Bring him back," Christopher nodded at Stiles. "He needs more training."_ _

__"When we're finished with this job, I will do that," Hale promised._ _

__"Hey!" Stiles protested. "Right here."_ _

__"Yes, you are," Christopher said._ _

__Hale laughed. "We'll come back once we get this resolved," Hale promised._ _

__"Whenever," Christopher said before nodding at them and going back into the building._ _

__Hale and Stiles got back in the SUV and Hale drove into the park. He nodded at the two cars that were parked just inside the park boundary, and they loosely followed the SUV._ _

__"Wait!" Stiles said. He pointed. "Bathroom, first."_ _

__"If you must," Hale sighed._ _

__"I'm going to have to piss, and possibly shit, in the woods later," Stiles pointed out. "Give me a break."_ _

__Hale pulled up next to the building. "Be quick." The other cars waited in the parking lot._ _

__Stiles went in and used the bathroom, washing his hands but letting them air dry._ _

__"Better, thanks!" Stiles admitted. "Helps with the nerves."_ _

__Hale rolled his eyes, but drove on to the section of the park they had tentatively identified as their target. He pulled off the road on a rocky stretch, the other cars moving on. Hale backed into a tree-lined space, so the rear of the SUV was hidden from casual sight._ _

__"They'll find us later," Hale said, waving vaguely at the other cars._ _

__"Okay, what now?" Stiles asked._ _

__"We scout the area and see if we can find the Nemeton," Hale said._ _

__The duffle bags revealed tac vests, night vision goggles, weapons and ammunition, and communication devices._ _

__Hale handed Stiles an earpiece. "Try not to lose this," he said. "If we lose touch with each other, the main goal is to get the Darach. Saving the hostages will be a bonus."_ _

__"Got it," Stiles replied, putting in the earpiece. He had used an earpiece in training, and hoped it would stay in his ear while they walked through the forest._ _

__"You can click it to select different channels," Hale went on. "There are four built-in channels, and Christopher's people will be on a different one than the one I'm going to use with you. There may be things you will not want to know about, as an FBI agent."_ _

__"Can't talk about things I don't know about," Stiles agreed._ _

__Hale pulled out several boxes of ammunition. "These bullets have mistletoe in them, which is deadly to a Darach. It'll kill a human, too, just so you know. Change the bullets in your gun for these and take extra clips."_ _

__Stiles found a clip that would fit his handgun, and put that into the weapon. He grabbed six more clips, sliding them into pockets._ _

__Hale handed him a small knapsack. "You can use this to carry whatever you can't carry on your person," he said. "Don't make it too heavy, we may need to move fast, but take what you need."_ _

__"Got it!" Stiles took the knapsack._ _

__Rooting through the duffle bags, Stiles found some knives. He unsheathed one and found it to be wickedly sharp. He stuck one in the knapsack and one in his belt._ _

__Hale emptied water bottles into two of the canteens and he handed one to Stiles. "Don't waste it," he warned._ _

__"No problem!" Stiles wrapped the belt around himself, settling it just below his belt. He rifled through the duffle bags and found a holster he could use to secure another hand weapon to the belt. He looked it over and it took the same clips as his handgun, so he threw a couple of extra clips into the pack. He also found some grenades and figured having something to throw, even as a distraction, might be useful._ _

__"Take a jacket," Hale handed Stiles a dark blue windbreaker that, in his other life, would have had FBI emblazoned on it. This jacket was unadorned, but it fit over the vest and helped hide the weaponry. Good thing the weather was relatively cool, otherwise he'd overheat before too long. He slid the straps to the knapsack over his shoulders._ _

__Hale had donned a similar jacket, and pulled on his own knapsack._ _

__"Ready?" Hale asked._ _

__"As ready as I'm going to be," Stiles replied. "Which way?"_ _

__"That's your job," Hale said with a wry grin. "Come here." He put a hand on Stiles' shoulders. "Close your eyes, and turn slowly in place. I don't want you to get dizzy, but I want you to think about the Nemeton."_ _

__"But I don't know anything about Nemetons!" Stiles protested. Although he did close his eyes and didn't fight Hale's warm hands on his shoulders._ _

__"Just think about the power of the Earth," Hale said softly. "About the forest, and the living growth. And a place that needs help. If the Darach has been planning properly, they've been here more than once to set up the final set of sacrifices."_ _

__Stiles took a breath and let it out slowly. Hale's hands fell from his shoulders, as Stiles pivoted in place, trying to _feel_ something. Anything. He suspected he had turned in a complete circle at this point and then, suddenly, there was an anxious feeling. He stopped and opened his eyes._ _

__"This way," Stiles pointed. "Well, I think." He frowned._ _

__"It's a start," Hale replied. "Lead on. And we should have time, so we don't have to hurry."_ _

__Stiles moved slowly into the woods, stepping carefully. He let Hale follow._ _

__After about half an hour, Stiles stood on the edge of a small ravine. Well, small in the general size of ravines, but twenty-plus feet was too large and uneven to risk climbing down the side. There was a small stream at the bottom of the cliff, so falling also meant getting wet. And muddy._ _

__"Which way?' Hale asked._ _

__"Across," Stiles said. "But... maybe to the left."_ _

__"Then let's go left for a bit and maybe we can find an easier way across," Hale said. "If I was alone, I could easily manage this, but we have enough time to make it easier for you."_ _

__"Appreciate that," Stiles said. He moved off, following the edge of the ravine. After a while, Stiles said, "This isn't getting better and this is the wrong direction."_ _

__"Okay," Hale said, taking off his backpack. "Let me look for a minute."_ _

__Stiles sat down, to give himself a short break as Hale scouted the edge of the ravine._ _

__"Okay, I have some rope," Hale said, coming back to where Stiles was sitting. "There's a tree we can tie the rope off on and you should be able to use that as a guide to get down to the bottom."_ _

__"And... what about getting up the other side?" Stiles asked._ _

__"I'll have to haul you up," Hale grinned._ _

__Stiles rolled his eyes. "Okay. I guess."_ _

__By the time they made it to the other side, Stiles was sweating heavily. "Okay, I need a break," he admitted._ _

__"No problem," Hale said. "Drink some water, that will help."_ _

__"Should have packed some granola bars or something," Stiles said, dropping to the ground to sit against a tree, breathing heavily. "That would have worked better than subs."_ _

__"The subs are for after, anyway," Hale said._ _

__"I like how you think positive," Stiles grinned._ _

__"I never plan to lose," Hale replied. "Although I always have a number of contingencies."_ _

__"Not surprised," Stiles agreed. He took small sips from his canteen. He leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes. "Give me five."_ _

__"Okay," Hale said._ _

__Stiles regulated his breathing for a moment, focusing on smooth, even breaths. Once he had a good pattern, he relaxed a bit._ _

__"Oh!" Stiles said softly._ _

__"What?" Hale asked, curious._ _

__"It's not too far from here," Stiles said without opening his eyes. "I don't know how I know that, but, well. I do."_ _

__"Which way?" Hale asked softly._ _

__Stiles pointed. He opened his eyes and saw he was pointing off to their right._ _

__"We were good to begin with, then," Stiles said. "Damn ravine."_ _

__"We're okay," Hale said. "Ready?"_ _

__Stiles got up and wriggled to settle his load. "Ready."_ _

__"Lead on, then," Hale directed._ _

__They walked for close to an hour, skirting piles of boulders and patches of brambles. 'Not too far' evidently was relative when hiking in the woods._ _

__"We're close," Stiles whispered._ _

__"Then let's stop here for a moment," Hale said, using a group of trees as cover. "You should rest, and then see if you can find anything."_ _

__Stiles took off his knapsack and sat next to a large pine. He sipped some water and then did the same breathing exercise. "I started breathing exercises to stop me from... well, flailing is an honest description. It lets me be still when I need to be. Otherwise, I'm a mess."_ _

__"Well, you're doing fine so far," Hale replied._ _

__"Okay, let me see what I can find," Stiles said. He went back to the breathing exercise, and at the same time, tried to focus on listening._ _

__Stiles opened his eyes to see Hale sitting next to him._ _

__"I can't take you there," Stiles said gently. "I don't understand but, well, it won't let your wolf any closer. There's something wrong with it, and it doesn't want you there. If you try, it'll be like your wards and just send you in circles."_ _

__"Will you be able to get closer?" Hale asked._ _

__Stiles nodded._ _

__"What can I do?" Hale asked._ _

__"Make sure I have a secure exit," Stiles said. "I'm thinking this isn't going to be pretty, in the end."_ _

__"Will the communicator work?" Hale asked._ _

__Stiles shrugged. "Don't know," he admitted. "But I'll keep it open and we can hope for the best."_ _

__"It's still several hours to midnight," Hale pointed out. "Do you want to go in now and wait there, or wait here for a while and then go in?"_ _

__"I'd like to go in now," Stiles decided. "To be honest, I'm better in the woods in daylight, as long as there aren't any more ravines, and if I can actually find the Nemeton before the Darach shows up, maybe I can... well, do something first. I'm inventing here."_ _

__"Okay, then," Hale said. "I'll let our backup know you'll be alone and to keep an eye out for you. They're all human, as far as I know. So they'll be confounded by any wards, too."_ _

__Stiles stood still for a minute, just to breathe and come to terms with this _urge_ that was calling to him._ _

__"Keep talking to me, even if I don't answer," Stiles said. "I think that will help."_ _

__Hale moved closer to him and Stiles looked into clear blue eyes. Stiles didn't move. Hale... Peter... clearly telegraphed his intention, allowing Stiles the option to stop him. Stiles found he didn't want to._ _

__Peter kissed him softly._ _

__As Peter moved away, Stiles leaned forward, looking for more._ _

__"Just in case..." Peter said. He kissed Stiles again and then moved away._ _

__Stiles licked his lips, tasting. Peter's eyes followed his tongue._ _

__" _Now?_ " Stiles whined. "You had to do this now?"_ _

__Peter laughed, eyes crinkling in amusement. "Consider it an incentive."_ _

__"Oh, I already had enough incentive," Stiles complained. "Now? You are in so much trouble, mister. I am going to date the hell out of you." He looked around. "Okay, dating after we figure out this Darach thing."_ _

__"Fair enough," Peter agreed. "Keep in touch and I'll see if I can do anything about these wards."_ _

__Stiles turned, to follow the urge that was leading him on._ _

__After about fifteen minutes of walking, Stiles pushed through some kind of an invisible barrier. He figured that was the actual wards around the Nemeton. He wondered if it was the Darach or the Nemeton keeping people away. Either way, it was no help to him._ _

__"I'm through the wards," Stiles reported. "I think. Anyway, going forward."_ _

__"The comms seem to work," Peter replied. "That is good."_ _

__"It felt like a physical barrier," Stiles said. "I'm guessing -- and you need to teach me more about wards -- that the Darach wasn't thinking of electronic devices. They just wanted to keep people physically away from the Nemeton. Or maybe the Nemeton is trying to keep people away from it. Not sure which it is."_ _

__"Either makes sense," Peter said. "If it's the Darach, protecting against electronics takes more power and finesse. While Darachs collect power, there's also some brute force behind the Three-Fold Death ritual. If it's the Nemeton, electronics are outside of its scope. Between them, I'm not surprised."_ _

__"That's good," Stiles admitted. "How do you take wards like this down?"_ _

__"That can be complicated," Peter admitted. "If it's tied to the Nemeton, that will make it harder. The Darach will have used the Nemeton to power the wards, and it's probably based on the Nemeton's basic instinct to hide itself. If it's just the Nemeton that's even harder; it has essentially infinite power to draw on. Let's hope for the Darach."_ _

__"Either would be a hell of a power boost," Stiles said. "What else?"_ _

__"There may be a focus object that the Darach has placed in the center of the protected area," Peter replied. "Like a spoke in a wheel, the wards protect everything around the object."_ _

__"Is that what you have for your house?" Stiles asked._ _

__"Clever boy!" Stiles could hear the grin. "Yes, I have a focus object buried under the house. It's in the foundation, so it's not something that can be easily removed."_ _

__"Since this is a forest, I'm suspecting that if there is an object, it won't be permanently mounted," Stiles said._ _

__"Probably not," Peter agreed. "It's not going to be anything special, either. So don't think there's going to be an anomaly sitting around that says 'I'm the focus object!' That would be too easy."_ _

__"Of course," Stiles sighed. "Nothing about this is easy."_ _

__"None of the best things are easy," Peter said softly._ _

__Stiles walked for a bit, paying attention to the surrounding area._ _

__"Would a Nemeton chase away animals, and birds, and things?" Stiles asked._ _

__"A Nemeton wouldn't," Peter replied. "But the magic of a Darach might. Why do you ask?"_ _

__"There's like nothing moving around here," Stiles whispered. "There aren't even bugs, as far as I can see."_ _

__"Then you may be close to the Darach's workspace," Peter said. "Which means the Nemeton shouldn't be too far away."_ _

__"Good to know," Stiles replied. "Give me a minute."_ _

__Stiles moved cautiously toward whatever was leading him on. There was a stack of cut wood, something that had to be the Darach's doing, on one side of a small clearing._ _

__The tree that grew in the center of the clearing kept the undergrowth at bay. There was light, but no sunlight at ground level. Stiles remembered enough from his earth science class that the high canopy kept the sunlight from the ground, which kept the undergrowth to a minimum._ _

__Stiles walked around the tree, looking for anything that might help them stop the Darach. Or, in spite of Peter's warnings, something that might be the focus object for the wards._ _

__Not finding anything, Stiles cleared a small space at the base of the tree._ _

__"Peter?" Stiles called softly._ _

__"Yes?"_ _

__"I think I've found the Nemeton and I need to... meditate, I guess," Stiles said. "I don't know how long this is going to take, or if it'll even work. But, if it gets to be midnight and you don't hear from me, feel free to interrupt."_ _

__"Do you know what you're doing?" Peter asked._ _

__"Nope! Not at all," Stiles replied cheerfully. "I'm just winging it here."_ _

__"Is there anything I can do?" Peter asked._ _

__"If there is something you can do, you'll be the first to know," Stiles said._ _

__"Take care," Peter said._ _

__"You, too!" Stiles replied._ _

__Stiles dug some of this weapons out of the pack. He set a gun next to where he planned to sit, under some leaves so it was hidden from any casual glances. A knife went on the other side. A couple of the hand grenades were placed within reach._ _

__Settling against the tree as best he could, Stiles closed his eyes and regulated his breathing. The bark was warm where he leaned against it, and a sense of _purpose_ seeped through him. He never really learned to meditate, but breathing exercises had been helpful when he was younger in dealing with his panic attacks. It was the best he had for now. He breathed in... out... in... out..._ _

__A voice startled Stiles. "Well, what do we have here?"_ _

__He opened his eyes and found that night had fallen. Damn! What time was it?_ _

__"Thank god you found me! I was hiking and got lost," Stiles said. "I saw the wood and figured someone came here occasionally and that it was better to stay in one place than to keep wandering around."_ _

__"Good, but not good enough," the man said. He was on the other side of the clearing, and it was too dark for Stiles to see him too well. "You shouldn't have been able to get to this spot, which means you're looking for me."_ _

__Stiles shrugged. "I have no idea! And who are you? I'm Stiles, by the way."_ _

__"Who I am is not important," the man said dismissively, without moving any closer._ _

__"Then I'll just call you Miguel," Stiles said, cheerfully. "It's just so much easier if you have a name."_ _

__"Call me what you want," 'Miguel' said casually. "It's not important."_ _

__"What time is it?" Stiles asked, stretching. "I must have fallen asleep. I should try to call my boyfriend again, if it's not too late."_ _

__"You can't be too lost, if you have a phone," Miguel said._ _

__"Maybe, but he wouldn't answer," Stiles replied, feigning frustration. "It's a semi-decent night and I'm not in immediate danger, so I thought I'd only call 911 or the park service if things went downhill."_ _

__"You're in more danger than you think," Miguel said. "I'm not going to be stopped."_ _

__"Really?" Stiles exclaimed. "That's all you've got?"_ _

__"Oh, I have plenty," Miguel replied. He pointed at Stiles. " _Stay!_ "_ _

__Stiles tried to get up, only to find his legs wouldn't move. "Hey! Great parlor trick! But I think my legs have fallen asleep. Give me a hand up!"_ _

__Miguel looked at Stiles for a moment. "What do you do for a living?"_ _

__"What does that have to do with my not being able to get up?" Stiles temporized. "Come on, dude, give me a hand!"_ _

__Miguel sighed. "Just tell me what you do."_ _

__Stiles had to think fast. What wouldn't fit the 'scholar' category?_ _

__"Man, I'm washing dishes in a diner," Stiles groaned, trying to sound embarrassed. "I flunked out of school last year and I've been doing odd jobs ever since." There! That had to be the least scholarly thing that existed._ _

__Miguel took a step closer to Stiles. "And how does a _dishwasher_ afford custom leather hiking boots?"_ _

__"Is that what these are?" Stiles asked in an alarmed voice, looking at his feet. "Oh my god! Scott's going to kill me!" Stile looked up at Miguel... maybe if he came a couple steps closer, Stiles could recognize him. "I've been couch surfing at my buddy's house, he's getting married in a couple of months but said I could stay until just before the wedding. They're his boots! He was gone by the time I realized my sneakers wouldn't do for a hike in the woods! I'm just borrowing them!"_ _

__"Hmm..." Miguel considered. "I guess you won't do, then. Pity."_ _

__"Won't do? Do for what?" Stiles acted worried._ _

__"Not important," Miguel replied. "You'll have to wait your turn."_ _

__"Wait my turn for what?" Stiles asked. "Dude! You're starting to freak me out here!"_ _

__"Don't call me dude! It's not important," Miguel said. "You'll have to wait."_ _

__"But..." Stiles protested._ _

__" _Silence_!" Miguel commanded, pointing at Stiles._ _

__Stiles tried to speak, but couldn't. Damn._ _

__"Stiles? Sweetheart? You still there?" Peter's voice came softly over the communicator._ _

__Oh, fuck. Stiles couldn't talk to him! He hoped Peter had heard some of his conversation with Miguel._ _

__"If you can hear me, just wanted to let you know Chloe found a Druid who can help break down the wards," Peter said. "It's going to take some time, and the Darach will know immediately when they fall, but it will let us come to you."_ _

__Stiles sighed in relief. He didn't know how long he was stuck in place. At least he was next to the Nemeton. It felt warm at his back._ _

__Miguel moved around the clearing, organizing something that Stiles couldn't quite see._ _

__"Don't go anywhere," Miguel said to Stiles. "I'll be right back."_ _

__Stiles rolled his eyes, all he could do. Miguel left the clearing and Stiles was alone._ _

__Stiles could hear a vehicle coming closer. An ATV came into the clearing, headlights brightening the entire area._ _

__Miguel stepped out of the vehicle and went to the back. He hefted a body wrapped in a blanket out of the back and came over to Stiles. He eased the body down next to Stiles._ _

__With the light from the vehicle, Stiles finally got a good look at the Darach. Matt Daehler! One of Senator Deucalion's aides. According to the personnel file Stiles had read, Daehler specialized in environment and education issues for the Senator, but there hadn't been much besides routine personal information. He was single, had a sister that had died young, and his parents were still living in the Senator's home state of Michigan.  
Daehler set two more wrapped bodies near Stiles._ _

__Now that there was more light, Stiles could see that at least the body next to him was still breathing. Good. They had a chance to save whoever these three were._ _

__Daehler went off to the other side of the clearing, probably to finish whatever preparations were needed for the next set of deaths._ _

__Daehler came and took the blanket off the body next to Stiles, an Asian man who might be about Peter's age. Daehler went over to the ATV and brought back black and red markers. Stiles knew that there had been runes drawn on all of the other bodies, so this confirmed further that this was the person doing the killings._ _

__As he drew on the Asian man, who didn't seem to be aware of what was happening, Daehler muttered something Stiles couldn't understand. It was a chant of some sort, something that made the runes flare a red light as they were drawn._ _

__Daehler tilted his head as if admiring his own work. He went off to his workspace and came back with a knife. He held the knife to the man's throat, ready to make a slash._ _

__Stiles shut his eyes, not wanting to be blinded if he got caught in the arterial spray._ _

__As Daehler started to move, there was a sudden _pop_ , as if the air pressure suddenly changed._ _

__"NO-O-O-O-O-O!!!!" Daehler howled. "NOT NOW!"_ _

__Stiles leaned further back, nestling into the Nemeton and _wished_._ _

__In his head, Stiles could see a light shoot up through the core of the tree, and into him. He suddenly could move. And talk._ _

__"Hey! Peter! If you're coming, now would be good!" Stiles said to his communicator._ _

__He reached for the grenades he had scattered around him earlier. Stiles pulled the pin on one and threw it in the direction of the ATV. Without waiting for it to detonate, he grabbed a second and threw it in the direction of the workspace Daehler had been using._ _

__He then threw himself over the bodies next to him, as best he could, as the ATV went up in a ball of flame. He must have gotten lucky, that he took out the vehicle with a blind throw._ _

__"Damn you!" Daehler ranted. "Not now! I'm too close!" He picked up the knife and came at Stiles._ _

__Stiles slapped a hand on the Nemeton and made that _connection_ again. _ _

__Daehler stopped in his tracks. Stiles watched him struggle against an unseen force._ _

__Stiles was sweating, trying to maintain his focus. He needed to keep Daehler away from the hostages, to stop him from completing the ritual. He closed his eyes, fighting to keep the connection._ _

__A howl broke through the woods. Crashing sounds came closer._ _

__Stiles opened his eyes, to see a huge black wolf hurtle out of the woods, barrel into Daehler, and knock him over. The wolf then stood over Daehler, snapping whenever Daehler moved._ _

__Half a dozen men followed. In the light of the burning vehicle, all he could see was bodies coming into the clearing. They held their weapons on Daehler and took charge of him. Once Daehler was under control, the wolf backed away._ _

__Then the wolf... changed. Peter came over to Stiles._ _

__"Hey! You made it!" Stiles said. "And... you're naked!"_ _

__"Stiles, let go of the tree," Peter said gently. "You need to stop."_ _

__Stiles looked, and his hand was still on the tree. It was a bright, gold light in the darkness._ _

__"Oh!" Stiles said, in wonder._ _

__He took his hand off the tree, and all went black._ _

__"Unngh," Stiles moaned._ _

__"Shh..." Peter coaxed. "Sleep."_ _

__"W'tr," Stiles mumbled. He was so-o-o-o dry..._ _

__"Hang on," Peter said. A warm arm went around his shoulders to help Stiles sit up. Peter held a glass up to Stiles' mouth. "Just a sip."_ _

__Stiles took one sip to moisten his mouth, then a couple more. He chased after the glass as Peter moved it away from him._ _

__"Hey!" Stiles protested._ _

__"Enough for now," Peter said firmly. He helped Stiles lay back down. "Sleep."_ _

__Stiles missed the warm arm, but closed his eyes obediently._ _

__Stiles slowly opened his eyes. The room was darkened, but by the brightness around the windows, he assumed it must be daytime. He was awake but felt exhausted. He threw off the covers; if nothing else, he needed to use the bathroom._ _

__He eased his legs over the side of the bed. "Whoa!" He felt dizzy and stayed still for a moment. Before standing, he made sure to identify some handholds, even just a piece of wall, that would help him get to the bathroom. Without turning on any lights, he inched his way to the bathroom. Relieving his bladder had never felt so good. He was almost back to the bed when the door opened. He squinted at the brightness._ _

__"I could have helped you," Peter said, hurrying over to Stiles putting an arm around Stiles to help him back to bed. Peter turned on a bedside light that helped dispel the gloom without being too bright._ _

__"I managed. Mostly," Stiles said. "Thanks for the help. How long did I sleep?"_ _

__"Three days," Peter said._ _

__"WHAT!" Stiles was dumbfounded. "How..." He frowned. "What happened?"_ _

__"That's a longer story," Peter said. "Want some fresh clothes?"_ _

__Stiles looked down at the t-shirt and sleep pants he didn't remember putting on._ _

__"Can't hurt, I guess," Stiles admitted. "Sure."_ _

__Peter went to the dresser and took out another t-shirt and pants. "Let me help," Peter said._ _

__Just putting on clean clothes, even if Peter did most of the work, exhausted Stiles._ _

__"Lay down," Peter directed. "Let me get you some broth. You need some liquids, if nothing else."_ _

__"Wake me when it's ready," Stiles mumbled. "Need to stay awake for a bit."_ _

__Stiles felt a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, sweetheart," Peter coaxed. "You wanted to be awake for a bit."_ _

__"'kay," Stiles mumbled. He forced himself to open his eyes, to see a worried Peter sitting on the edge of the bed._ _

__"I have some broth," Peter said. "Something to keep your system working. Come on, let me help you sit up."_ _

__Peter frankly manhandled him -- or was it wolf-handled, Stiles thought muzzily -- and Stiles found himself leaning against a stack of pillows at the head of the bed._ _

__Stiles waved at the mug, but Peter pulled it back. "If you don't want this all over yourself, let me help."_ _

__Stiles nodded. Peter moved closer and held it so Stiles could take a drink from it. Stiles put his hand on Peter's to guide it to his mouth. The broth was warm but not too hot and Stiles took a drink. Peter pulled the mug away so Stiles could breathe for a moment._ _

__"More," Stiles said. Peter gave him a couple more swallows. It didn't take long before Stiles finished the mug._ _

__"More?" Peter asked._ _

__"Nah, I'm good for now," Stiles admitted. "I just want to sleep." Although he didn't want to let go of Peter's hand._ _

__"Chloe's friend said you might sleep for several days," Peter replied. "Maybe a week. So don't worry about anything."_ _

__Stiles' eyes flew open. "My dad! Did anyone..."_ _

__"It's okay, it's okay," Peter soothed. "I broke into your phone and called your dad myself. He'll be out here tomorrow, but I told him that you were fine, just exhausted, and if he came any earlier, he'd just watch you sleep."_ _

__Stiles sighed in relief. "Good. Thank you."_ _

__"Go back to sleep," Peter ordered, turning off the bedside light._ _

__"Slave driver," Stiles mumbled, falling asleep. He felt Peter kiss his forehead._ _

__The next time he woke felt more natural, as Stiles lay in the bed. It was daylight, again._ _

__The door opened a crack and his dad stuck his head in. When he saw Stiles was awake, he came into the room._ _

__"Dad!" Stiles exclaimed, scrabbling at the bed to try to sit up._ _

__"Hey, kiddo!" John said, coming over to the bed and turning on the light. "I hear you've done impossible things!" He came over to put some pillows behind Stiles._ _

__"I don't even know what I did!" Stiles protested. "All I know is that I'm still so tired and evidently sleeping for days."_ _

__"Well, I don't know everything," John admitted. "Peter said he'd tell us both at once. And I just got here at lunchtime, so I've only been here a couple of hours."_ _

__"You can help me to the bathroom," Stiles said, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. "Okay, still dizzy."_ _

__"I've got you," John promised._ _

__John helped Stiles to the bathroom, hovering discreetly as he pissed. Stiles looked longingly at the shower, but admitted, "I'm not up to that. But if I sit on the toilet, maybe I can wash up some."_ _

__Stiles ran a warm washcloth over what he could reach. He leaned heavily on the sink to brush his teeth. John put a hand under Stiles' elbow to guide him back to the bed._ _

__"Damn, that was a lot of work," Stiles admitted, breathing heavily._ _

__"You up to some food?" John asked. "Peter has a couple of things on hand, and I suspect he's ready to call any chef in town if you ask for something he doesn't have."_ _

__Stiles laughed. "Sounds like Peter!"_ _

__"Hey! That sounds like you're doing better," Peter came into the room at that point. "How are you feeling?"_ _

__"Like I got run over by a herd of elephants," Stiles admitted. "I'm still tired. And achy, but that could be from sleeping so much."_ _

__"And it'll be at least a couple more days before the worst of it wears off," Peter said. "And two or three weeks before you're back to normal."_ _

__"I was never normal!" Stiles laughed._ _

__"I'll vouch for that!" John added with a grin._ _

__Then Stiles groaned. "Two or three weeks! Man, there goes my job!"_ _

__Peter grinned. "Oh, you're on a disability leave! So they'll take you back. That is if you want to go back. Although you have some reports to write at some point."_ _

__Stiles pointed a finger at Peter "That's a discussion for a day when I can stay awake for more than an hour. Although I hear there's food," Stiles asked. "I'm not fussy, so bring whatever's simplest."_ _

__"Mac and cheese?" Peter asked._ _

__"Oh, yes!" Stiles agreed._ _

__John helped Stiles sit up proprly in the bed while Peter went to heat the food._ _

__"Hey! Tell me what happened!" Stiles said when Peter came back with a bowl of macaroni and cheese, along with a glass of ice tea._ _

__"There are a number of unimportant details, but the bottom line is that Matt Daehler, one of Senator Deucalion's aides, was the Darach. Daehler's younger sister died about fifteen years ago, due to a cancer that his parents were convinced was caused by a brownfield area they lived near. Deucalion fought against funding to clean up the brownfield and, to add insult to injury, worked to deny any benefits to anyone who claimed they had cancer because of it."_ _

__"Man, that's tough," Stiles said as he ate._ _

__"This was a long term project for Daehler, finishing school as well as learning that he was a Druid," Peter went on. "He was kicked out of his coven for asking to learn how to get revenge on Deucalion. Killing Deucalion's son was only part of his revenge, he wanted the power he'd gain from the Three-Fold Death ritual to take control of Deucalion and make him helpless in his own body."_ _

__"Can you do that?" Stiles asked. "Really?"_ _

__Peter nodded. "Powerful witches and druids can do a certain amount of mind control, but -- as far as I know -- there are limitations. The ritual was to get around those limitations."_ _

__"Why am I so exhausted, then?" Stiles asked._ _

__"As far as anyone can tell, the Nemeton used you to channel its power to stop Daehler," Peter said. "What do you remember?"_ _

__Stiles shook his head. "Not a lot, really," he admitted. "I felt the ward break, and, okay, this is going to sound stupid, but I wished I was free to do something."_ _

__"Ah! Which I'm going to guess that the Nemeton may have interpreted as a plea for help," Peter said._ _

__"Then all I knew was that there was power there, so I put my hand on the Nemeton and knew I had to keep my hand there to stop Daehler," Stiles continued. "It was like it put up a ward that Daehler couldn't get past. Then you came -- hey, I didn't know you could turn to a full wolf!"_ _

__"Something that tends to run in the family," Peter admitted._ _

__"You'll have to do that again so I can see it properly," Stiles said. Then yawned._ _

__"Finish eating, and then you're going to sleep some more," Peter directed._ _

__Stiles handed the bowl to Peter. "Thanks, that was good." He drank the iced tea._ _

__He reached for his dad's hand. "Come here, I need a Stilinski hug!"_ _

__John sat next to Stiles and gathered his son into both arms. Stiles wound his arms around his dad and held on tightly._ _

__"Thank you for coming," Stiles said._ _

__"Always," John promised._ _

__As John let go, Stiles saw Peter hesitating in the doorway. "Come here, silly wolf!" He held out a hand._ _

__Peter came closer and gathered Stiles in gently, as if he were something precious. But he clung tightly to Stiles._ _

__"Thank you for coming to rescue me," Stiles said._ _

__"You mostly rescued yourself," Peter said. "But don't make a habit of it!"_ _

__Stiles laughed. "I won't!"_ _

__Peter drew back without letting go and kissed Stiles warmly._ _

__A small cough startled them._ _

__"My dad's watching!" Stiles said, blushing and dropping his head on Peter's shoulder. Who laughed, the fucker._ _

__"I'm leaving!" John said, leaving them alone._ _

__"I think he already knew," Peter said._ _

__"Then kiss me again," Stiles said. "Before I fall asleep!"_ _

__Peter didn't hesitate._ _


End file.
